Systems for detecting and monitoring a small area wildfire and methods related thereto

Abstract

A method of detecting a small area wildfire is described. The method includes: (i) receiving, at a processor, an electronic map of an area of interest; (ii) receiving, at the processor from a satellite, location information for a high-altitude balloon disposed above the area of interest; (iii) determining, using the processor and based one or more different types of sensor data that is received from one or more different types of sensors on the high-altitude balloon and the high-altitude balloon location, one or more wildfire locations; (iv) embedding each of the wildfire locations on the electronic map to produce a fire activity map; and (v) causing to display or displaying the fire activity map including the wildfire locations within the area of interest.

1 - 15 . (canceled) 
     
     
         16 . A small area wildfire monitoring system comprising:
 receiving, at a processor, an electronic map of an area of interest;   receiving, at the processor from a satellite, location information for a high-altitude balloon deployed within the area of interest;   determining, using the processor and based on one or more different types of sensor data that is received from one or more different types of sensors on the high-altitude balloon and the high-altitude balloon location, one or more wildfire locations;   embedding each of the wildfire locations on the electronic map to produce a fire activity map; and   causing to display or displaying the fire activity map including the wildfire locations within the area of interest.   
     
     
         17 . The small area wildfire monitoring system of  claim 16 , further comprising:
 determining, using the processor and based on one or more of the different types of sensor data, at least one wildfire characteristic selected from a group comprising a time of ignition of the small area wildfire, size of the small area wildfire, rate of growth of the small area wildfire, smoke thickness, smoke depth, and direction of growth of the small area; and   presenting, on the fire activity map, a visual representation of at least one of the wildfire characteristics adjacent to each of the wildfire locations.   
     
     
         18 . The small area wildfire monitoring system of  claim 17 , further comprising generating an audio and/or visual alert when at least one wildfire characteristic exceeds a predetermined threshold value. 
     
     
         19 . The small area wildfire monitoring system of  claim 16 , further comprising:
 receiving and/or determining, based on one or more of the different types of sensor data, at least one type of wildfire growth factor selected from a group comprising topography of land surrounding the wildfire location, vegetation type and density, moisture content of the ground and/or vegetation, previous wildfire perimeters, atmospheric pressure, temperature, humidity, wind speed, wind direction, weather forecast, roads and highways, proximity to homes, towns, cities, and infrastructure, and population density; and   presenting, on the fire activity map, a visual representation of at least one of the wildfire characteristics adjacent to one or more of the wildfire locations.   
     
     
         20 . The small area wildfire monitoring system of  claim 19 , further comprising:
 calculating, based on one or more of the wildfire locations, at least one wildfire characteristic and/or at least one wildfire growth factor, a wildfire growth pattern for at least one of the small area wildfires that may endanger critical land, infrastructure, and/or human life; and   generating an audio and/or visual alert when the wildfire growth pattern exceeds a predetermined wildfire growth pattern criteria.   
     
     
         21 . The small area wildfire monitoring system of  claim 16 , further comprising:
 receiving and/or determining, based on one or more of the different types of sensor data, one or more firefighting attributes that are responding to the small area wildfire, wherein at least one firefighting attribute is selected from a group comprising hand crew, number of persons within the hand crew, smoke jumping crew, number of persons within the smoke jumping crew, helicopter, fire engine, crew transport vehicle, bulldozer, masticator, tractor plow, water tender, and air tanker; and   presenting, on the fire activity map, a real-time visual representation of one or more of the firefighting attributes.   
     
     
         22 . The small area wildfire monitoring system of  claim 21 , further comprising:
 identifying, based on one or more of the firefighting attributes and/or one or more of the different types of sensor data, one or more wildfire suppression activities that are selected from a group comprising firebreak, vegetation clearing, back burns, and water and/or fire retardant drops; and   presenting, on the fire activity map, a visual representation of one or more of the wildfire suppression activities.   
     
     
         23 . A wildfire detection and monitoring system comprising:
 a high-altitude balloon deployed over an area of interest;   a global positioning system (“GPS”) receiver, coupled to the high-altitude balloon, configured to obtain high-altitude balloon location information;   one or more sensors, coupled to the high-altitude balloon, configured to obtain one or more images;   memory for storing an electronic map of the area of interest that includes one or more property boundaries and a landowner of each property within one or more of the property boundaries;   one or more processors, communicatively coupled to the GPS receiver and one or more of the sensors, one or more of the processors operative to perform the following instructions:
 receiving, from a global positioning system (“GPS”) receiver, high-altitude balloon location information; 
 receiving an electronic map of an area of interest, wherein the electronic map includes at least one map attribute selected from a group comprising, infrastructure, waterways, bodies of water, roadways, contour lines, and 
 determining, from one or more of the sensors on a high-altitude balloon and the high-altitude balloon location, one or more wildfire locations; 
 embedding each of the wildfire locations on the electronic map to produce a fire activity map; and 
   a communication transmitter, coupled to the processor, for transmitting the fire activity map to at least one party of interest responsible for responding to the wildfire.   
     
     
         24 . The fire detection system of  claim 23 , wherein the high-altitude balloon is geostationary. 
     
     
         25 . The fire detection system of  claim 23 , wherein the high-altitude balloon is deployed for a period that ranges from between about 100 days and 200 days. 
     
     
         26 . The fire detection system of claim  1 , wherein the high-altitude balloon is deployed at an altitude that ranges from between about 59,000 feet and about 121,000 feet above sea level. 
     
     
         27 . The fire detection system of  claim 23 , wherein each pixel captures an area of interest that ranges from about 1 meter to about two meters. 
     
     
         28 . The fire detection system of  claim 23 , wherein one or more of the sensors is selected from a group comprising an Infrared and Near Infrared MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) sensor, AVHRR (Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer) sensor, VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) sensor, Spinning Enhanced Visible and InfraRed Imager (SEVIRI), CO 2  sensor, RADAR, LIDAR, Synthetic Aperture Radar, and high definition camera. 
     
     
         29 . The fire detection system of  claim 23 , wherein one or more of the processors is located on the high-altitude balloon, on another high-altitude balloon, and/or earth-based. 
     
     
         30 . The fire detection system of  claim 23 , wherein the map includes one or more geofenced boundaries. 
     
     
         31 . The fire detection system of  claim 23 , further comprising a display interface for visually displaying the map of the area of interest, each of the wildfire locations, one or more of the property boundaries, the landowner of the wildfire location, and/or the party of interest for responding to the wildfire.